Guest reviewers

Healthy eating is an important health-promoting behavior and maintenance of this behavior has repercussions for long-term quality of life (QoL). Given that psychographic factors are important predictors of engaging in health-promoting behaviors and social media can aid in developing self-regulation skills, the purpose of this study was to model the impact of (1) health consciousness and attitude, and (2) health disclosure and engagement with social media, on healthy eating intention. Furthermore, the impact of intention was examined on healthy eating maintenance and subsequent QoL. Five hundred and thirty-two U.S. adults completed quantitative assessments of health consciousness, attitude, social media health disclosure and engagement, healthy eating intention and maintenance, and QoL. Findings showed that beliefs, attitude, and social media engagement with respect to healthy eating significantly predicted behavioral intention and subsequently healthy eating maintenance and QoL. Theoretical contributions and implications for public health interventions are discussed.     

Determination of the prevalence of anabolic steroids,stimulants, and selected drugs subject to doping controls among elite sport students using analytical chemistry

Abstract

Drug abuse by adolescents has been investigated in various surveys that reported correlations between age, gender, and activity. However, none of these studies included chemical analyses to help substantiate the statements of participants. In the present study, the urine specimens of 964 students (439 females, 525 males; mean age 22.1 years, s = 1.7), who applied to study sports sciences at university, were assessed for anabolic steroids, stimulants, and selected drugs prohibited in sports. In total, 11.2% of the urine specimens provided contained drugs covered by doping controls. The most frequently detected compound was the major metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol (9.8%) followed by various stimulants related to amphetamine and cocaine (1.0%). Indications of anabolic steroid use were found in 0.4% of urine samples but originated from contraceptives containing norethisterone. The present study provided unambiguous data on the status quo of drug (ab)use by adolescents hoping for a career related to elite sport or sports sciences. No use of anabolic steroids was detected. However, evidence for stimulants and tetrahydrocannabinol administration was obtained, although not reported by any participant, which highlights the issue of under-reporting in surveys based solely on questionnaires.     

The governmentality of reconciliation: adult education as a community relations technique in Northern Ireland

Despite a successfully negotiated peace agreement in Belfast in 1998, tensions between different community groups continue to exist in Northern Ireland. This situation creates a governmental need to find solutions to problems such as segregation, inter- and intra-group violence and other forms of sectarian antagonisms. On the one hand, this is attempted by disciplinary measures such as ‘peace walls’ and an increased presence of state powers such as police and armed forces. On the other hand, community relations discourses remain a common refrain in Northern Ireland with their focus on a ‘conduct of conduct’ approach. In this article, I seek to understand adult community education through community relations initiatives and designated anti-sectarian courses as a governmental technology in Northern Ireland designed to change technologies of the self. The article highlights the possibilities for a way forward inherent in this approach and links community relations to broader contexts of policy developments in Northern Ireland.     

Understanding motivation, engagement and experiences of intercultural interactions at university: a person-in-multiple contexts perspective

The paucity of intercultural interactions among students from culturally diverse backgrounds at university and off campus is widely documented in the literature. A review of this empirical work, however, reveals narrow conceptualisations of the construct of intercultural interactions. Intercultural interactions are seldom conceptualised as part of complex, dynamic activity systems, and across multiple social contexts. Yet, intercultural interactions represent unique relational, socio-emotional and socio-cultural activities with their own, specific underlying cognitive, motivational and emotional dynamics. It is posited that activity theory (e.g. Engestr?m in Journal of Education and Work 14(1):133?C156, 2001) provides a useful framework for interpreting students?? intercultural experiences, because of its emphasis on the evolving and complex interrelations between individuals and their surroundings??conceptualised as activity systems. The multiple contexts angle further stresses the overlapping and/or embedded nature of the activity systems that individuals simultaneously participate in. A series of empirical studies that incorporated quantitative methodologies for identifying meaningful patterns, and qualitative methodologies for gaining experiential insights into students?? intercultural experiences across multiple social contexts (i.e. formal on campus and informal, off campus) is presented. Methodological and conceptual issues related to studying the dynamics of motivational, cognitive and emotional aspects of intercultural interactions in activity systems and multiple contexts are addressed.     

Religious Identity Development of Adolescents in Christian Secondary Schools: Effects of School and Religious Backgrounds of Adolescents and Their Parents

This study examines religious identity development of pupils at Dutch schools for secondary education (mean age 16.4). With the help of a theoretical conceptualization of “religious identity development” empirical research is carried out. Main question is whether differences in terms of religious commitment and exploration between pupils of the four participating schools can be explained by religious denominations of pupils and the importance the pupils' parents attach to worldview. It is concluded that school in general has no significant main effect on religious commitments and explorations of pupils. Religious backgrounds of pupils should be taken into account. Because pupils themselves do indicate that school has influence on the way they look at life, further research is needed in which specific school aspects (like the way pupils evaluate religious education) should also be taken into account.     

Seasonal variation in sports participation

This study explores indicators describing socio-demographics, sports participation characteristics and motives which are associated with variation in sports participation across seasons. Data were drawn from the German Socio-Economic Panel which contains detailed information on the sports behaviour of adults in Germany. Overall, two different measures of seasonal variation are developed and used as dependent variables in our regression models. The first variable measures the coefficient of (seasonal) variation in sport-related energy expenditure per week. The second variable measures whether activity drops below the threshold as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). Results suggest that the organisational setting, the intensity and number of sports practised, and the motive for participation are strongly correlated with the variation measures used. For example, both, participation in a sports club and a commercial facility, are associated with reduced seasonal variation and a significantly higher probability of participating at a volume above the WHO threshold across all seasons. These findings give some impetus for policymaking and the planning of sports programmes as well as future research directions.     

The impact of high school exit exams on graduation rates and achievement

The authors examined the short- and long-term effects of high school exit exams (HSEEs) on graduation rates and achievement using an interrupted time series approach. There is a positive overall effect of HSEE introduction for graduation rate trends, which is heterogeneous over time. HSEEs have a negative impact on graduation rates in the year of introduction and briefly after, which is short lived and becomes positive (but not statistically significant) over the long term. There is also a preintervention negative effect, suggesting that high schools prepare for the HSEE before introduction. There are no effects for achievement, possibly due to the lack of meaningful cross-state achievement data. The findings are robust to the inclusion of states that do not have HSEEs as a control group and also robust to controlling for No Child Left Behind introduction.     

From old soccer to new football? Expert accounts of transformations on the world game in Australia post-Crawford Report

This article investigated and evaluated the changes which have occurred in Australian football since the publication of the Crawford Report in 2003. Prior to this report, it was widely perceived that football was the ‘sleeping giant’ of Australian professional sport despite its popularity at youth participant level. The Crawford Report made a range of recommendations and a new era was heralded when Football Federation Australia was established which set upon the task of adopting a number of Crawford’s recommendations. To investigate the impact of the Crawford Report on the current status of Australian football, a qualitative methodology was adopted. Purposive sampling was adopted to give voice to senior football figures who were involved in the sport in both the pre- and post-Crawford Report periods and a total of 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted. A number of significant themes emerged from the research. All participants agreed that Australian football’s appeal has been broadened. However, the interviews also reported that the perception of football as a minor code and always relegated to the ethnic margins was a ‘myth’. Also, the participants raised the issue of whether the Crawford Report was implemented to its fullest degree. They were passionate about the idea that if all recommendations were implemented, the sport might currently be in a much stronger position.